Shlach Lecha
Spies – the Jewish way?
This week’s story begins with a command to send representatives of the twelve Israelite tribes to check out the Promised Land. The spies were all reputable. Moses briefed them to report back with a sketch of the land – was it fertile? Were its people strong, in fortified cities?
Seforno (16th century) comments: Moses received a Divine command to send spies – so that the people would not be left to do it themselves.
This raises the issue of how spiritual authority interacts with lay leaders. Should rabbis be involved in the politics of war? This was the first stage of the conquest of Canaan. Who were the experts? Surely the Princes of Israel should be left to assess how to proceed on their own. A “fact-finding expedition” should be the preserve of political and military leadership.
However, the repercussions of a campaign on the morale of the community cannot be properly assessed without the input of its spiritual leadership. Moses did more than dispense advice. He chaired the selection board that handpicked the scouts that went to tour the future Holy Land.
This scenario is a handy way of learning to plan for the future of our communities in the 21st century. Spiritual leadership needs to know where the skills of their laity lie, and construct around them the teams they need to grow a future for the community.
One problem: sometimes missions fail or even backfire. When the spies returned they spoke well of the land; they called it a “land of milk and honey”. This is exactly what Moses had wanted. So what went wrong? The spies went on to say: “However – the people that live there are strong…we were like grasshoppers in our eyes, and in their eyes.”
The people panicked, and rallied against Moses and Aaron claiming they would have preferred to die on Egypt than face the challenge of conquering the impossible. For this reaction, they were condemned to spend a total of forty years on the desert. Only those who survived that generation, and their children, merited to enter Canaan. Who was to blame for panic? Surely the ten spies who frightened the people with images of giant unconquerable foes; why then punish an entire generation?
Clearly, the spies erred. They did nothing wrong telling the truth, but they gave their report to the people with no prior consultation. Had they done so, these wise, upstanding men would not have ended up causing mass panic. Telling the truth in such a blatant way in public did more damage than good. The report perhaps needed softening before broadcast. Moses, equally, might have insisted on better information management; not reduce the truth, but edit before broadcast!
Nachmanides (13th century) reminds us that Moses later tells of how the people pressed for an expedition out of a lack of faith. Once they got Moses to send spies, they also became responsible for the results. A lesson for our times: leaders –even rabbis - should be given the benefit of the doubt: sometimes they act in the best interests of the people, and make mistakes. A community controversy is as much the long-term burden of the lay leadership as its rabbinic guide; only a perfect tandem of both political and religious authorities can avert these calamities.
Rabbi Ariel Abel is Rabbi of Radlett United Synagogue, Director of the Judith Lady Montefiore College London Semicha Programme (Lauderdale Road) and Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management.
